Google’s Sundar Pichai: One in Two Tablets Is Running Android

Though the iPad seems to get all the attention, Google’s Sundar Pichai said that Android is now running on half of the tablets being sold, with more than 70 million Android tablets having been activated.

“Google has made tremendous strides,” Pichai said, speaking today at an Android and Chrome event in San Francisco.

To keep things growing, Google on Wednesday is launching an updated version of the Nexus 7 tablet built for Google by Asus. The new black design is thinner, lighter and has a smaller bezel than the first Nexus 7.

It adds a higher-density 1080p display, which packs 323 pixels per inch.

A 16 gigabyte Wi-Fi model will be available for $229, while the 32GB model will sell for $269.

Google is also announcing an unlocked LTE version of the tablet that works with Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile. That version will sell for $349 and be available in the coming weeks.

The original Nexus 7, Pichai said, accounted for 10 percent of all Android tablets.

Google is also hoping to get more students interested in the Nexus and other Android tablets with a new textbook store. The section of Google Play, which will debut in early August, features the ability to rent or buy textbooks, and will have content from all five major educational publishers.

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